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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

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Interior Ministry Reviews Film of Scam Suspect

The Interior Ministry is taking another look at the intriguingly named “Cheat Mony”, a national police bodyguard that undercover reporters filmed working for alleged scam boss Deng Pibing. Deng boasted (on camera!) that Yim Leang, the deputy national police commissioner that oversaw Cheat Mony's department, is also the bodyguard's boss. Deng claimed he keeps $2 of every $10 and passes the balance on to authorities. Deputy ministry spokesperson Touch Sokhak said that the claims were nothing more than boasting. Yim Leang's brother Yim Leak, a Hun Sen adviser, is an alleged business partner of Deng. Deng departed Cambodia in late May; authorities say they don’t have any idea at all where he is.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (ministry response), CamboJA News (inquiry), The Better (Yim family), Cambodia Daily (scam compounds)

Hun Manet Sets Garment Wage to $210

Prime Minister Hun Manet has made the call and set the 2027 garment minimum wage at $210 a month, adding $2. Unions had been looking for $250.66 after taking a survey of 422 workers in 28 factories. More than 100 unions and civil society groups backed the demand, but apparently to little avail. Sieng Rithy of the Cambodian Youth Power Union Federation said the “token” increase ignores the seven criteria used in wage talks, including an IMF inflation forecast of 3.1 percent.

Read more: Cambodia Daily

Thai and Cambodian Envoys Clash at the UN

Cambodian envoy Ke Sovann told a UN refugee agency meeting that about 24,000 civilians are unable to go home because Thai forces are occupying their land. Thailand's envoy, Benjamin Sukanjanajtee, shot back by saying that the homes are on Thai soil and that the Cambodians living there had been fleeing conflict in the 1970s. He said that their presence was an encroachment and accused Cambodia of starting the fights by sprinkling landmines through the area. Ke Sovann said Thai soldiers had walked into old minefields inside Cambodia and that Thailand started the fighting by killing a Cambodian soldier. Crisis Group reports about 20,000 displaced Cambodians and says Thai troops hold small pockets of Cambodian territory in four provinces. Bangkok refuses to reconvene the joint commission that was charged with surveying and marking the border.

Read more: Cambodianess (UN exchange), International Crisis Group (border analysis)

Workers Returning From Thailand Earn Less

Nearly a million workers have come home to Cambodia from Thailand, and as a result, the Cambodia Development Resource Institute says their return could lift national output even as it leaves their families poorer. The Labor Ministry counted half a million in jobs by December 2025, but returnees are struggling with lower wages, unfamiliar work and heavy debts. Their monthly earnings have reportedly gone down by more than a third. Remittances from Thailand dropped from almost $3 billion in 2024 to nearly $2 billion in 2025, and CDRI's “middle” scenario has them falling by another three-fifths before all is said and done. Harsh math.

Read more: Cambodia Daily

Sanctioned Pair's Former Resort Pays Staff Late

Workers at Peninsula Bay, a $574 million Sihanoukville resort whose former directors have been placed under US sanction, say their pay keeps arriving late. The US Treasury sanctioned Aik Paung and Sai Aung Linn for their alleged involvement in scam and money laundering operations. Corporate records show they stayed on as directors of the developer until December 2025. The project is now two years late, and completion is being claimed for 2030. Chan Vorleak, who earns $11 a day making concrete forms, said her team is regularly waiting five to 10 days for wages due, but management blames the late payments from Peninsula Bay to their subcontractor. The developer itself wasn’t named in the sanctions.

Read more: CamboJA News

Phnom Penh Denies Giving Activists to Vietnam

The Interior Ministry is denying that Cambodian officials arrested a pair of democracy activists and handed them to Vietnam. Australian Tran Hiep and Norwegian Nguyen Duc Thuan, both of Vietnamese origin, flew into Techo International Airport from Thailand in mid-September. Vietnamese police say the two were picked up three days later at the My Quy Tay border post in Tay Ninh province. Hanoi says they were entering illegally and were members of (alleged terrorist group) Viet Tan. Immigration records show no official Cambodian departure for either man. An international network of lawyers claims that they were picked up in Cambodia and taken across the border, and they want UN and Cambodian investigations.

Read more: Cambodia Daily

IMF Suggests Targeted Fuel Relief as Costs Rise

The IMF says pricier imported fuel and fertilizer are raising farm costs and weighing on agricultural output. Phnom Penh has cut fuel taxes and duties in addition to making cash transfers and cost of living payments to those harder hit. The IMF think that temporary, targeted help for vulnerable households is better than widespread fuel subsidies or price controls; they are asking Cambodian monetary authorities to tighten policy if inflation doesn’t ease.

Read more: Khmer Times

Approved Investment Drops Below $6B

Cambodia approved just $5.92 billion in registered investment capital from January to September, down from $7.8 billion over the same time frame last year. The Council for the Development of Cambodia signed off on 382 projects (almost a third fewer than they did in 2025). The figures include new money for existing projects. China ponied up more than half the reported capital, followed by domestic investors. Industry is still the main draw, and the council says that approved projects could create as many as 217,000 jobs.

Read more: Khmer Times

Phnom Penh Inks Pact With Türkiye

Cambodia and Turkiye have signed a military agreement in Istanbul during Prime Minister Hun Manet's visit. President Erdogan welcomed Cambodia's interest in Turkish defense products and took the opportunity to call for Camodia’s border dispute with Thailand to be settled by way of dialogue and international law. Minister Delegate Jean-Francois Tain made a point to emphasize that the pact is for training and capacity building, not the sale/ purchase of weapons.

Read more: Khmer Times (border dispute), Turkiye Today (agreement), Daily Sabah (talks), Khmer Times (training)

Hun Manet Boosts Kazakh Trade Route

Hun Manet and Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov are talking up a link between the Trans Caspian route and the China, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia corridor as a new path to European markets. Neither delegation made mention of any cargo forecasts or sources of funding. The first visit to Kazakhstan by a Cambodian prime minister also resulted in seven MOUs on digital government, trade, tourism and culture, in addition to a twin city agreement between Phnom Penh and Astana. Bilateral trade was $40.7 million through 2025.

Read more: Khmer Times (agreements), Trend (trade route), Qazinform (farm exports), Astana Times (trade)

Factory Rents Up, Luxury Condo Prices Down

The property market is bifurcating. Rents for ready built factories is up almost 4 percent QoQ to $2.90 per square meter a month, and asking prices for luxury condos is down nearly 7 percent. Rents for Grade A serviced apartments has dropped about 14 percent.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

Bicycle Exports Up 23 Percent to $552M

Cambodia was able to export an impressive $552 million worth of bicycles and electric bikes from January through September, a figure that’s up almost a quarter (23 percent, to be precise) from the same period last year. The biggest buyers were the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia in that order.

Read more: Khmer Times

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

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US Keeps Trafficking Tier 3 Ranking Over Scam Prosecutions

The US State Department has kept Cambodia on Tier 3, its lowest trafficking ranking, and says the government prosecuted no traffickers tied to scam centers. The report credits raids that closed hundreds of compounds and the arrest of Prince Group founder Chen Zhi, who was sent to China. It also says some senior officials, advisers and police profited from the centers and protected them, and residents and survivors said compounds began emptying before police arrived. Eight officials were demoted but none have been investigated, and US-sanctioned senators Kok An and Ly Yong Phat faced no action. Both, naturally, deny involvement. The government says it has taken down all 86 large centers it identified and frozen more than $300 million of assets.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (official complicity), Khmer Times (scam-center abuses), Kiripost (Operation XXL), CamboJA News (sanctioned senators)

PM Says Rubio Pressed Thailand to Ease Border Tensions

Hun Manet says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Thailand to put a stop to behavior that raises border tensions or that looks like encroachment on Cambodian land. He said that a US embassy official (unnamed) delivered the message in an “urgent” meeting. The official also apparently asked Cambodia to confirm it wouldn’t escalate. Hun Manet wants Washington to help restart the Joint Boundary Commission. There’s been no survey or demarcation work since a December ceasefire brought a pause to fighting that’s already killed more than 100 people. Thailand's Foreign Ministry says the reports are "a distortion of facts" for domestic political gain.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (Kuala Lumpur Accord), CamboJA News (displacement relief)

Thai Maritime Dispute Talks Move to The Hague

Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and border affairs minister Lam Chea will lead a delegation to The Hague from October 14 to 18 for the second round of UNCLOS conciliation with Thailand. Phnom Penh started the proceedings after Thailand canceled the 2001 MoU that had previously been in place to settle maritime disputes. The Hague session will be held behind closed doors, but Cambodia says that it can be okay with a treaty that fixes a single maritime boundary or a results in a joint development deal, or failing that, commission recommendations to guide future talks.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post

Fuel Import Bill Up Nearly 54 Percent to $2.82B

Cambodia spent $2.82 billion importing fuel in the first nine months of the year, which is more than half as much again as it did over the period last year. Gasoline rose the fastest, up 76 percent to $1.04 billion. Diesel is still the larger line item though, at $1.47 billion. Since the Middle East conflict began in late February, pump prices are up 39 percent for gasoline and 44 percent for diesel. Prime Minister Hun Manet says the government has spent nearly $500 million on subsidies, which he says will continue as long as global fuel prices stay high.

Read more: The Star (pricing period), Cambodianess (import breakdown)

Treasury Claims $2.5B After Banknote Rumors

Senate President Hun Sen says the treasury is in possession of at least $2.5 billion in response to social media rumors that the new 50,000-riel and 100,000-riel banknotes indicate that there’s cash trouble afoot. The payroll total for government salaries is $230 million a month, he said, and revenue so far this year is in excess of $5 billion. The new banknotes add anti-counterfeiting features and are being presented as simple replacements for the older, worn ones. The bank says that about 92 million of the older notes were collected and destroyed in September.

Read more: CamboJA News

Cambodia and Vietnam Ink Six Deals

Cambodia and Vietnam signed six agreements during Le Minh Hung's first visit as Vietnam's prime minister. One has Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security helping build a national drug treatment center in Svay Rieng. The leaders agreed to speed up the link between the Phnom Penh-Bavet and Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai expressways. Both teams aspirationally confirmed that they shared a $20 billion trade target, but didn’t put any dates on when we should expect the benchmark to be met. Cambodia's commerce ministry reports $6.6 billion in trade through the first three quarters of 2026 and Vietnamese figures put it at $8.7 billion for the first eight months. Why there is a discrepancy is not clear.

Read more: The Star (border checkpoint), Khmer Times (business forum), Myanmaritv (expressway), Xinhua (agreement types), CamboJA News (drug center)

Angkor Foreign Visitors Down 28 Percent YTD

Foreign visitors to Angkor Archaeological Park fell more than a quarter in the first nine months of the year, to about 511,000. Ticket revenue was down a similar 26 percent to $24.2 million. Tourism Minister Huot Hak is blaming negative publicity, online scam concerns, border friction and the conflict in the Middle East that’s increased the cost of fuel (and, presumably, the cost of flights to Siem Riep). The United States, Britain and China remain the largest source markets, and the slide comes on the heels of a 7 percent drop in ticket buyers last year, when the state-owned Angkor Enterprise collected $44.7 million.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (ministry response), Khmer Times (rebound outlook)

Al Jazeera Probe Ties Deng Pibing to Scams

An undercover investigation by Al Jazeera's 101 East alleges that China-born billionaire Deng Pibing built his business empire in Cambodia on corruption. Reporters say they found scam factories and drug-fueled karaoke parties inside. Interesting video, if you have the time to watch it (about 25 minutes).

Read more: Al Jazeera (video)

Embassies Switch From Visa Stickers to E-Visas

In good news for frequent visitors to the Kingdom, several Cambodian embassies have stopped issuing the old full-page visa stickers of every type and made the switch to e-visas. The change came into effect on October 3, and, while no reason was given, Tho Samnang, a former Foreign Ministry director-general, has been charged with issuing more than 12,000 visa stickers to a scam-connected criminal group in exchange for (allegedly) $3 million.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post

CITES Can't Rule Out Fraud in Monkey Exports

A CITES review says it can’t rule out fraud and corruption in the monkey-export(!) trade, according to PETA. US investigators reportedly found that output at five of six breeding farms was in excess of the species' biological capacity. PETA says a five-year US Fish and Wildlife Service investigation has resulted in federal indictments against eight people. The group has asked US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to bring a stop to Cambodian monkey imports for US labs.

Read more: PETA

Ministry Denies Sending Activists to Vietnam

Cambodia's Interior Ministry denies that its authorities arrested Australian Tran Hiep and Norwegian Nguyen Duc Thuan or handed them over to Vietnam. Immigration records show both flew into Techo International Airport from Thailand, but neither has any recorded departure. Vietnam says border guards detained them three days after their arrival in Tay Ninh province after they made an alleged illegal crossing. Hanoi says that they are member or Viet Tan, which it designates a terrorist group.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

IMF Cuts 2026 Growth Forecast to 3%

The IMF expects growth to slow to 3% this year, in perhaps surprising contrast with the ADB's far more ambitious 3.9% forecast. International tourist arrivals fell by almost half in the first six months, and the absence of close to a million migrant workers remitting money from Thailand through the ongoing Thai-Cambodian standoff has hit the national balance sheet. The IMF figures that inflation could reach 5.6% on energy costs. The government is a bit more bullish, expecting 4.2% growth on non-garment exports, foreign investment and state spending. PM Hun Manet says all large scam compounds have been shuttered, but the IMF says the reputational damage is still keeping investors away and also warns that bad loans are getting close to 8% of lending and wants banks, payment firms and casinos to vet their real owners, which local law, unusually, does not require.

Read more: CamboJA News

Hun Manet Bumps Garment Wage to $212

Garment workers will start to get a $212 monthly minimum wage from January after Prime Minister Hun Manet added $2 to a council vote that wanted to keep it at $210. Unions were asking for $225, and there was a band of 125 civil society groups who were asking for a $250.66 “living wage” based on median household spending of $391 and take-home pay of $287. Labor Minister Heng Sour is taking a rosy view, saying bonuses and housing and transport allowances bring the real figure to $231.50. Employers wanted no increase and say rising shipping costs and the closed Thai border are already hitting margins. The sector employs 1.1 million workers.

Read more: Xinhua (exports), CamboJA News (employers), Cambodianess (living costs), Khmer Times (workers)

Vietnam Trade $6 Billion, Far From $20 Billion Goal

Two-way trade with Vietnam was $6 billion in the first eight months of 2026, up 7%. The relationship is becoming more critical as the Thai land border remains closed. Cambodia sent $2.96 billion in rice, rubber, cashews and other farm goods and received $3.02 billion in construction materials, machinery and fuel. That’s a $63.2 million trade gap, down from $92.5 million for the previous period. Vietnam has become the third-largest trading partner after China and the US, and is responsible for about an eighth of trade. Kandal and An Giang provinces have opened a new international crossing at Chrey Thom-Khanh Binh, though traders still question the quality of Vietnamese goods and Vietnam still hasn’t given China-bound Cambodian cargo transit rights.

Read more: Khmer Times (connections), Khmer Times (investment)

Thai Troops Raise Flag at Pursat Checkpoint

Thai troops (and monks!) raised their flag at the Thmar Da International Border Checkpoint in Pursat, resulting in another formal protest from Phnom Penh. The Foreign Affairs Ministry said the ceremony is an attempt to assert an "unlawful occupation" and said it was in breach of the December 27, 2025 ceasefire. They also referred again to maps drawn under the 1904 Franco-Siamese Convention and the 1907 Treaty.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (UN response), Cambodianess (border ceremony), Khmer Times (government response)

Hun Manet Calls Exiled Critics “Traitors”

Prime Minister Hun Manet is painting exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy and US-based commentator Muong Nareth of treason, saying their claims about last year's fighting with Thailand demoralized the military. At a road inauguration in Pursat, he angrily denied that Cambodian troops fired on Thai civilians or operated from the Preah Vihear Temple complex. CamboJA News said it wasn’t able to actually find the Sam Rainsy comments that Manet was referring to and Nareth, a former Radio Free Asia host who runs a YouTube talk show, said on Facebook that the accusations were fabricated.

Read more: CamboJA News

Singapore Takes S$39M in Prince Group Case

Singapore police have taken possession of all S$39 million resulting from the sale of 2 Jalan Kilang Barat, a commercial building that the US Treasury claims was the address of 11 companies connected to Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi. A shell company set up by Chen Xiaoxuan (25-year-old daughter of businessman Tan Yew Kiat) bought the property in 2023. Police arrested Tan in November 2025 on laundering money charges related to Prince Group. The company tried to sell the building for S$50 million, but authorities forced a withdrawal of the listing and placed a caveat on it, later allowing for a S$39 million sale to Jackspeed Holdings. Chen Zhi is still waiting on proceedings in Beijing after his extradition from Phnom Penh, and Singapore still has a warrant out for Karen Chen Xiuling, another related party who is believed to still be in Cambodia.

Read more: The Star

DFI Retail Takes Over Starbucks Licensee

DFI Retail Group, the parent of Lucky Supermarket, is taking ownership of Maxim's Coffee Concepts, which is the Starbucks licensee that operates more than 1,100 coffee shops in seven Asian markets. The deal with Hongkong Caterers is expected to close by the end of March 2027. Daily operations will remain unchanged, and the businesses will continue sharing procurement, supply chains and the yuu Rewards program. DFI has operated locally since 2012 and owns 70% of the company running Lucky Supermarkets. Starbucks entered the market in 2015 and now has 60 stores in eight cities.

Read more: Kiripost

Phnom Penh to Take Afghan Refugees From Qatar

A 16-member task force led by Interior Ministry Secretary of State Kirth Chantharith will decide how many of the roughly 1,100 Afghans stranded at Qatar's Al-Sayliyah camp to accept. Washington asked Phnom Penh to help clear the backlog from the 2021 Kabul evacuation. The group will arrange flights, housing and security, but the order doesn’t make clear how long the Afghans would stay or who would pay.

Read more: CamboJA News

Garment Workers Cook as Heat Rules Lag

Phnom Penh saw more than a hundred days of 35°C or hotter from 2020 through 2024, which is more than triple the rate seen in the late 2000s. Garment workers are, as a result, “cooking” on factory floors. At one supplier, a thermometer that followed a 46-year-old veteran's shifts showed that the heat index was “dangerous” or “extremely dangerous” for nearly four-fifths of her working hours. At subcontractors outside TAFTAC or Better Work monitoring, the share was above that 80% benchmark, and workers didn’t even get the seniority pay and social security that had been offered by audited suppliers. The Labor Ministry is working to get temperature limits fixed in order to replace a toothless 2002 rule, but nobody’s seen the draft yet.

Read more: Pulitzer Center (GIZ report), Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (factory measures)

UN Envoy Counts 100+ Political Detainees

UN Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrews told the Human Rights Council that the government presides over "two Cambodias." One has ratified eight of the nine core rights treaties and accepted more than four-fifths of its Universal Periodic Review recommendations. The other is holding more than 100 people for exercising their basic freedoms. Worryingly, that’s a trend going in the wrong direction as it's three times the number at the start of 2024. Rights groups say there are currently 110 detainees including five journalists, five Mother Nature environmental activists and two student organizers, all who have been repeatedly denied bail.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (government response), Human Rights Watch (Commune Law)

Conscription Drive Draws 3,000 on Day One

Nearly 3,000 young Cambodians picked up military service forms on the first day, about a third of the roughly 8,500 recruits the Defence Ministry says it needs for this year. District military police bases will accept completed applications from October 10 to 15. Hun Manet cautiously said that the opening is a trial and that quotas remain under review. If too few people volunteer, a lottery will be used to fill the gap. Men aged 18 to 25 are required to serve for 24 months.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (officials), Khmer Times (critics), CamboJA News (law)

Anti-Scam Commission Shuts Online Betting at 24 Casinos

The anti-scam commission says 24 casinos stopped online gambling by the September 30 deadline that it had set. It says livestreamed games, football betting, online lotteries and bird-fighting wagers have come to a stop and the equipment is gone, but didn’t go so far as to say how many of the Cambodia’s almost 200 licensed casinos offered online betting, or whether the 24 that stopped include any of the 18 casinos that lost their licenses or the nine that were already suspended. In it’s trumpeting, it also seems to have set aside the awkward fact that online gambling has been fully banned since 2019.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post

Angkor Visitor Numbers Down a Quarter

Angkor Archaeological Park saw 510,528 foreign tourists in the first nine months of 2026, which is a drop of more than a quarter from a year earlier. Ticket revenue fell in line with that drop to $24.23 million. Tourism Minister Huot Hak blamed the reputational damage from scam compounds, the Thai border standoff and higher global fuel costs. September brought a sliver of relief as arrivals held almost steady at 35,535 and ticket revenue edged up to $1.69 million.

Read more: The Star

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Anti-Scam Summit Names Two Senators

Anti-scam minister Chhay Sinarith told Nikkei Asia that the government is investigating compounds that are connected to ruling-party senators Ly Yong Phat and Kok An. It was the first time officials publicly connected sitting senators to the fraud networks. Prime Minister Hun Manet also made the sweeping claim that scam compounds no longer exist in Cambodia (Ed.: congratulations?). The US Treasury has sanctioned both of the named senators because of alleged links to forced-labor scam operations, and both are known for having helped bankroll Hun Sen during his 38 years in power. US lawmakers are also pressing the Trump administration to consider sanctions against Deputy Prime Minister Neth Savoeun and Interior Minister Sar Sokha because of their alleged scam ties.

Read more: Reuters, Reuters, Nation Thailand, The Star, Independent

Government Turns on the Licensed Casinos

Officials are reportedly turning to the more than 100 licensed casinos that are still operating, even though some are suspected (not by the PM, however: see previous story) of hiding online scams and illegal gambling behind a legal facade. An audit of all 195 licensed casinos led to a handful of suspensions, and authorities forced 91 casinos tied to scam activity to close. Investigators are also looking into about 30 Prince Group subsidiaries and their offshore assets in Singapore, the US and the UK after chairman Chen Zhi was arrested and sent (back) to China in January. Hun Manet, apparently fed up with the scale of the industry, says that the current number of casinos is "excessive."

Read more: UA News (casino scrutiny), iGaming Today (new crackdown), GGRAsia (licensing)

ADB Cuts Growth Forecast as Tourists Stay Away

The Asian Development Bank reduced its 2026 growth forecast a hair to 3.9% from 4.1%, saying garment and auto parts factories won’t be able to make up for weak tourism. International arrivals have plunged by almost half to 2.25 million through August. Officials blame the still-shuttered Thai border, the confict(s) in the Middle East and Cambodia's reputation as a scam hub. The government's answer is a limited visa waiver allowing Chinese passport holders multiple 14-day stays from June 15 through to October 15, in a decision that is not likely to move the needle as far as it needs to move. Domestic tourism was up by nearly half to almost 24 million trips in the first seven months, but to be clear, those are “trips” rather than “travelers.” ADB thinks growth will recover to 4.7% in 2027 as manufacturing exports pick up steam.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (PM digital push), CamboJA News (cash transfer program), VnExpress (Ministry of Tourism), Cambodia Investment Review (non-garment exports)

Tire Exports Up 72% to $1.5 Billion

Tire exports were $1.5 billion from January through August, which is nearly three quarters more than a year earlier. The United States was the top buyer, followed by Brazil and Canada. The Ministry of Commerce says the young industry is starting to find its footing abroad, and local factories are getting practiced at using more of the country's rubber and adding value instead of shipping it out raw, as has traditionally been the case.

Read more: Khmer Times

Pinglu Canal Erases 560 km From ASEAN Shipping

Cambodia-China trade was $15.54 billion through August (up more than 20%). Exports rose at a similar pace to $1.31 billion, but that, as usual, was dwarfed by $14.23 billion in imports. The new 134-kilometer Pinglu Canal in Guangxi allows 5,000-tonne vessels get to the sea through Qinzhou and remarkably shortens the inland route to ASEAN by a full 560 kilometers. The trip between Beibu Gulf Port and Sihanoukville now takes five days, roughly half the time needed on the old Guangdong route.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post

Wage Council Weighs $210, $225 or $250

The National Council for Minimum Wage is weighing three monthly rates for garment workers in 2027. On the table are the unchanged $210 that’s being requested (demanded?) by employers and union proposals of both $225.30 and $250.66. The tripartite council will vote by secret ballot if negotiations don’t succeed, after which the labour minister will promulgate the wage order. The Prime Minister has topped up the council's figure every year since 2019. The Asia Floor Wage Alliance and independent unions have based the number quoted in their highest proposal on surveys of household costs.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review, Khmer Times (wage comparison)

Conscription Forms Go Out October 1

Military service forms will be available from October 1 to 9, with applications due at gendarmerie offices between October 10 and 15. Men aged 18 to 25 will be required to provide identity and residency documents, and evaders will be at risk of up to five years in prison and a fine. Defense Minister Tea Seiha is telling families that they should emphasize the discipline and fitness benefits on offer to their menfolk. Conscription official Phuong Siphan says selection will be “transparent and fair,” but surely that goes without saying?

Read more: Khmer Times (service exemptions), Khmer Times (sub-decree date)

Phnom Penh Takes Interpreters Washington Left Behind

Prime Minister Hun Manet approved a 16-member working group to take in Afghans evacuated from Al-Sayliyah camp near Doha before it closes on September 30. The order doesn't specify how many people Cambodia expects. About 1,100 people are still at the camp, most of them are interpreters and relatives of Special Operations Forces personnel who were airlifted out in 2021. A foreign ministry spokesman praised the plan as humanitarian but, awkwardly, also said that he was speaking personally and could not confirm what the plan actually was.

Read more: Kiripost

Miss Universe Crops the Watermark Off Thai Photo

The Miss Universe Cambodia preliminary round presented a 1906 Thai photograph, "Siamese Woman of Kamphaeng Phet," as evidence of ancient Khmer culture in a video about traditional dress. The image, which is held by Thailand's National Archives and listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register, appeared without the (Thai) Fine Arts Department watermark. Thailand's Culture Ministry says the use was intentional and is preparing an objection, saying that a lawsuit was also still a possibility. Cambodian national director Prasat Davin blamed "insufficient verification" and denied any intent to offend.

Read more: Nation Thailand (legal action threat), The Diplomat (border dispute history)

New Riel Notes Add a Nine-Headed Dragon

The National Bank has redesigned 100,000 and 50,000 riel notes that bear the image of the late King Norodom Sihanouk and feature new anti-counterfeit technologies. The green and grey 100,000 note also shows Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk and a nine-headed dragon sculpture. The blue and brown 50,000 note shows the royal crown, a sceptre and a seven-headed dragon.

Read more: Khmer Times

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

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Thai FM Brings Rockets, Landmines to UNCLOS

Three days into the UNCLOS conciliation process in Singapore, the Gulf of Thailand's $300 billion dispute was hamstrung by in issues of a rocket attack, a leaked phone call and landmines. Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow spent much of his opening statement blasting Cambodia for "playing the role of a victim" with "self-righteousness" and "hypocrisy," by talking about last year's border fighting instead of the 26,000 sq km seabed the five-member commission is supposed to help decide. Nonetheless, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn stuck to his script, and asked for a delimitation treaty or, failing that, a joint development deal to share the gas and oil that’s in the Overlapping Claims Area. Thailand wants borders decided first, a division of resources later, and says it offered six months of direct talks before Cambodia went to the UN.

Read more: Reuters (gas reserve), Phnom Penh Post (commission members), The Diplomat (UNCLOS legal basis), CamboJA News (report timeline), Courthouse News (dispute history)

20k Still Out of Home, Thai Trench Gets Protest

Ke Sovann, Cambodia’s ambassador in Geneva, told the UN Human Rights Council that more than 20,000 Cambodians are still unable to return home because of the dispute with Thailand. He says that nearly 4,000 square kilometers of seven provinces remains contaminated by unexploded ordnance, much of it cluster munitions. The Cambodian Foreign Ministry has filed another new protest that again accuses the Thais of digging a trench near Boundary Pillar No. 9 in the Ta Tum area of Oddar Meanchey's Anlong Veng district. That’s the same area that Cambodia protested about Thai road construction in July.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (displaced services impact), CamboJA News (fatalities tally), Khmer Times (Pen Bona), Migrant Times

House Chairs Want Sanctions for Manet's Cousin

Brian Mast and John Moolenaar, chairmen of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Select Committee on China, have given State (Rubio) and Treasury (Bessent) 180 days to decide whether 28 people/ entities in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar meet the bar to get sanctions over their (alleged?) scam-network ties. The list includes both businesspeople and a pair of current Cambodian ministers. A report from Harvard Asia Center fellow Jacob Sims, published by the National Democratic Institute and Inca Digital, specifically identified Hun To as a person of interest. To is a cousin of Prime Minister Hun Manet who has admitted owning a 30% stake in Huione Pay, the now-collapsed payment platform that the US Treasury says laundered billions from scams targeting Americans.

Read more: House Foreign Affairs Committee (sanctions letter), National Democratic Institute (full report), CamboJA News (Hun To and blockchain findings)

State Tells Tourists to Beware

The U.S. State Department's September 15 advisory keeps Cambodia at Level 2 overall but has a 50-kilometer strip along the Thai border at Level 4, "Do Not Travel," because of the risk of fighting between Cambodian and Thai forces. Phnom Penh has a warning because of street crime because phone and bag snatchings are apparently frequent in areas that foreigners gather. The official advice is "Do not physically resist any robbery attempt.” Seven provinces, including Siem Reap, Preah Vihear and Battambang, still have unexploded-ordnance warnings reminding visitors not to touch unknown metal objects and to make sure they hire local guides in forests and dry rice paddies. Travel insurance with evacuation coverage also gets a specific mention.

Read more: US State Department (official advisory), Khaosod English (robbery warning)

$100M Bar for Casinos, But Not In Siem Reap

Cambodia's number of casinos count is going down as Hun Manet says that the current count is already “excessive” for an industry he says barely registers in the wider economy. Of 195 inspected facilities, 72 have already been shuttered in the past year by way of cancelled licenses or failed renewals. Anyone who passes those review and still wants a permit, however, is going to need $100 million in capital AND real infrastructure (not just a shophouse), to keep operating. Siem Reap remains off the table, a position Hun Manet says has been the status quo since his father ran the government. Online betting connected to land-based casinos is expected to be suspended from early October.

Read more: GGRAsia (license revocation breakdown), AGB (CGMC framework), SCCG Management ($100M minimum), GGB Magazine (framework review date), iGaming Today (hospital launch)

Airport's 15 Million Capacity Gets 656,000 Takers

Techo International Airport opened last year built to handle up to 15 million passengers a year, but through the first five months of this year it recorded only about 656,000 arrivals. That’s about a quarter less than were seen in the same period of 2025. Nationwide, air passenger traffic was down 9 percent to 3.71 million through the first seven months of the year, and the number of flights slipped 1 percent to 37,248 even as cargo was up 21 percent to 57,103 tonnes.

Read more: Cambodianess

Wage Talks Stall at $210

The National Council on Minimum Wage finished up its third tripartite session with employer representatives still stuck on the current $210 monthly rate, unchanged from the second meeting earlier that week. Most worker delegates are asking for $225.30, but a small share is looking for $250.60, with their claim supported by a 2025 study showing workers take home $287 a month even thought they suffer $391 in median household spending. Labor Minister Heng Sour said that were a handful of reasons to hold back, and that new jobs would lift household income better than simply a higher minimum wage. The next round of discussions is September 28.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (sectors covered), CamboJA News (union rep)

Oknha Families Launch $1 Billion Fund with UK Manager

WorldBridge chairman Sear Rithy and a coalition of Oknha families, including Peng Huoth's Hieng Bunpeng, TSNR's Thai Seang, Borey Phnom Penh Thmey's Bun Hay and Premier Angkor Palace's Ly Hong, signed an MoU with UK-based Beryllus Capital to launch the Mekong Growth Fund. The fund is targeting $200 million to $500 million at first close, with a long-term goal of more than $1 billion. The vehicle will divide money between Cambodian and Mekong infrastructure, global public markets, and private equity, and is being pitched as the local route to getting a piece of the $210 billion a year the Asian Development Bank says ASEAN requires for infrastructure spending through 2030. The general partner plans to donate 1% of net profits to a Cambodian charitable foundation.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

Concessional Borrowing Doubles to $460 Million

Phnom Penh signed $460.26 million in concessional loans in the first half of 2026, up 134 percent from the same period a year earlier, pushing the public debt stock to $13.56 billion (almost a fifth of GDP). Bilateral lenders came up with 57 percent of the new financing, multilaterals the rest. The government also was able to sell $515.77 million in securities, which is almost the entirety of the annual legal ceiling of $517 million, mostly in riel. Debt-service payments were up 31 percent year-on-year to $389.46 million, and disbursements from existing loans were $401.93 million, with infrastructure taking 82 percent. The Finance Ministry's preliminary 2026 assessment is still claiming that the debt is manageable and at low risk of distress.

Read more: Khmer Times

GAC Starts Assembly in Kampong Chhnang

GAC Group and local partner TH Automotive switched on a knock-down assembly line in Kampong Chhnang this week. Hun Manet and China's ambassador Wang Wenbin were on hand for the festivities. The plant will assemble up to 10,000 GS3, EMKOO, GS8 and GN8 models a year, Its GAC's first local manufacturing attempt after seven years of selling imports in the country and its opening brings the national assembly plant count to 15, with a combined capacity of 35,000 vehicles. The plants represent $248 million invested (72 percent foreign), and 2,774 new skilled jobs.

Read more: Gasgoo (retail expansion 2026), Charleston Gazette-Mail (executive attendees), Khmer Times (Chevrolet assembly), Market Screener (2024 launch date), Gasgoo (model lineup names)

Canadia's Impact Fund Backs an AI Shop

Canadia Impact Fund has taken a seed stake in Newwave Tech Foundry, a 17-person Phnom Penh AI and software outfit that sports more than 70% of its client base from the US, UK, France, UAE and Australia. Terms were not shared. This is only the fund's second deal since it launched in 2025, following last-mile courier Jalat Logistics.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

ABA Bank 31st in Forbes Ranking

Forbes and Statista's first World's Top Performing Banks list, listing 500 banks in 89 countries on profitability, capital strength and asset quality, put ABA Bank 31st among "Lower Mid-Size" banks ($10-20 billion in assets), for Cambodia's highest showing. ACLEDA was 107th in its tier. No other Cambodian bank made the cut.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

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Min Aung Hlaing Gets KH State Visit, Deals

Cambodia signed four agreements with Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing during his state visit, including deals on double taxation, investment protection and cultural cooperation. Cambodia is the fourth ASEAN member to host the coup leader turned president since April, despite the bloc’s continued refusal to allow him to participate in high-level summits. Fortify Rights and Human Rights Watch asked Phnom Penh to arrest him and hand him to the ICC, where the former prosecutor has been trying to get a warrant for alleged crimes against humanity against the Rohingya.

Read more: The Irrawaddy (visit), Phnom Penh Post (deals), The Star (rights groups), Khmer Times (official talks), Khmer Times (fraud conference)

Cambodia, Thailand Take Dispute to Singapore

Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and his Thai counterpart Sihasak Phuangketkeow are taking their teams to a UN Conciliation Commission session in Singapore. It will be the first formal hearing since Bangkok exited the framework that had been the foundation for Gulf of Thailand talks for twenty years. The Permanent Court of Arbitration will run the process under the terms of UNCLOS Annex V. That’s a regulation that has only ever produced a single settlement, so… place your bets. Oil and gas reserves in the gulf could be worth as much as $300 billion. For context, that’s about 20 times Cambodia's annual GDP. The commission is expected to come back with a report in about a year, but its recommendations won't be binding.

Read more: The Star (minister), Cambodianess (analyst), CamboJA News (reserves)

UXO Cleanup at Preah Vihear Could Cost a Billion

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre estimates that clearing unexploded ordnance after the border dispute with Thailand will cost $1 billion and take more than a decade. You read that correctly - that’s the estimated toll for THIS conflict, and would be in addition to the costs of contamination left by earlier wars. Cambodia has also filed a complaint with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons because of Thailand's alleged use of chemical weapons. A joint UNESCO and ICOMOS mission reported 562 impact sites at Preah Vihear temple and documented 70,000 stone fragments for restoration - work that will undoubtedly require more money still.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (cleanup), Phnom Penh Post (temple damage), Phnom Penh Post (Ta Moan Thom), Phnom Penh Post (restoration), Phnom Penh Post (chemical allegation)

Unions Push for $250.66 Minimum Wage

Six trade unions have asked the Labor Ministry to set a $250.66 minimum wage for garment, footwear and travel goods workers for 2027, a figure that’s 20 percent above than the current $210. Union leader Yang Sophorn says basic household expenses are now in excess of $500 a month, forcing workers into overtime just to keep up. Hun Sen put a stake in the ground via Facebook where he said that Cambodia's wage floor is already higher than those of seven regional competitors. Labor Minister Heng Sour has not indicated when formal negotiations will start.

Read more: CamboJA News

Ministry Threatens Oknha Over Posts

The Land Management Ministry is threatening defamation and incitement charges against tycoon Leng Navatra, his brother Leng Nimol and singer Ton Chanseyma because of their Facebook posts attacking its freeze on Navatra's assets. The freeze is on his stake in Borey Leng Navatra 6A, which is a gated community just outside Phnom Penh where about 1,500 houses have been unfinished for several years. Nimol claimed that the ministry had also frozen buyers' assets, but he (belatedly?) deleted the posts. The article also says that Navatra has asked for his Oknha title to be revoked, but it’s not clear why he would do that.

Read more: CamboJA News

LOLC Lists $20M Sustainability Bond on CSX

LOLC has listed a $20 million sustainability bond on the Cambodia Securities Exchange. Officials shared no detail on how the money is expected to be used. Hean Sahib pitched the listing as a route away from costly foreign loans with short repayment terms. The source does not say whether the issuance carries a state credit guarantee. Caveat Emptor?

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

NGOs Demand Release of Thy Thorn

Forty-seven civil society groups are demanding the "immediate and unconditional" release of activist Thy Thorn, the 25-year-old KSILA vice president who was sentenced to seven years for protesting against the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area. Courts at every level, including the Supreme Court, have so far rejected his bids for bail and early release. Human Rights Watch said the plotting charge was baseless, and his father claims that the trial produced no evidence of a conspiracy.

Read more: CamboJA News

Nidec Pulls Production to Thailand

Nidec, one of the world's largest electric motor makers, is getting its production out of Cambodia in a move to Thailand. The Japanese company claimed the move was because of fallout from the border conflict but gave no timeline or details about which plant or plants will be affected. Thailand already is host to a substantial part of Nidec's Southeast Asian manufacturing base.

Read more: Nikkei Asia

China Funds the Entire Funan Techo Canal

China Exim Bank has agreed to a loan worth almost a billion cold ones with a Cambodian and Chinese JV to finance the Funan Techo Canal. In addition to a $200 million loan that was previously announced in July, Beijing is now financing the waterway's entire estimated $1.2 billion cost. That’s about 9 percent of Cambodia's total public debt. The 180 km canal is expected to connect the Mekong directly to the Gulf of Thailand in order to reduce reliance on Vietnamese shipping routes. Formally, it is still 51 percent Cambodian owned, but there’s no doubt that the debt will afford Beijing considerable leverage over operations and governance.

Read more: CamboJA News

Trade Tops $50B, US Surplus Widens

Total trade from January through August was $50.69 billion, up a fifth y-o-y, but imports continued to outpace exports and the deficit widened to $2.36 billion. Garments, footwear and travel goods were almost half of exports ($11.76 billion +~7%). Rice volume to the United States almost tripled to nearly 10,000 tons ($10.68 billion). The $10.25 billion surplus offsets much of the $12.92 billion deficit with China. RCEP members are now responsible for more than three-fifths of total trade as the country continues counting down to the loss of its LDC tariff breaks in 2029.

Read more: The Star (garments), The Star (trade), Khmer Times (US surplus), Cambodianess (rice), Khmer Times (RCEP)

Interior Minister Increases Drug Surveillance

Usually citizens fear that technology employed to target “bad guys” will eventually be retooled in order to target political opponents, but in Cambodia, Interior Minister Sar Sokha has told local police to build "secret" surveillance on drug dealers using the methods that were previously used on opposition activists.

Read more: CamboJA News (drug surveillance)

Russian, Indian Warships Dock at S’ville and Ream

Russia's Baltic Fleet training ship Perekop has pulled up at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port for a two-day unofficial call. It’s the first return since 2019 and the third Russian naval visit this year. The 138-meter ship arrived with about 400 people aboard, including some Cambodian cadets who are participating in a six-year training program. Separately, India's INS Kulish docked at the Chinese-renovated Ream Naval Base the following day as part of an Eastern Fleet deployment.

Read more: Khmer Times (Perekop), Tripura Star News (Kulish)

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Bangkok Tears Up Thaksin's Oil Deal

Bangkok's cabinet scrapped a 2001 maritime MoU with Cambodia, taking advantage of Article 56 in the 1969 Vienna Convention to claim the right to exit a treaty with no withdrawal clause. For nearly 25 years the document was the only framework that governed the management of the 27,000 square kilometer Overlapping Claims Area, which is estimated to hold 1.6 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of gas. Phnom Penh condemned the move, said it was a breach of international law, and claims it will work to get conciliation under UNCLOS Annex V. The Thai Prime Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, and his Bhumjaithai Party, swept February's elections on a hardline nationalist platform.

Read more: The Diplomat

Phnom Penh Rolls Out a Crisis Package

On Friday, Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth introduced a $1.22 billion economic intervention program that he says will work as a cushion against the battering of both global and regional shocks. July inflation was 5.5 percent, which was the biggest cost of living squeeze seen in years. The World Bank reckons a 10 percent rise in fuel prices would push the poverty rate up 1.4 percent, forcing families that already spend most of their income on food and transport to the brink. The government did not say how the $1.22 billion will be divided between direct relief, business support, or infrastructure.

Read more: Khmer Times, Khmer Times (electricity cost)

End of COVID-era Loan Forbearance

The National Bank of Cambodia has rejected a bank and microfinance industry plea request to keep COVID-era forbearance rules through to the end of this year. The change will bring an end to a practice that currently allows lenders to classify restructured loans as “performing.” No prizes for anyone who guesses what comes next. Gross NPLs were already 9.6 percent through 1H 2026, up from 8.3 percent at the end of 2025, and the ratio is expected to keep moving higher as banks (are forced to) reclassify loans previously parked off the bad-debt books. The IMF had repeatedly pushed for the change because the forbearance has been hiding the real state of bank balance sheets. Borrowers in genuine distress will still be able to negotiate restructuring, but without the benefit of the regulatory shortcut.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

Garment Unions Reopen Wage Fight at $210

Cambodia's National Minimum Wage Council opened 2027 talks on Tuesday, and garment unions are pushing past last year's bump that brought the floor up to $210 monthly. Labor Minister Heng Sour said the first meeting is simply a data review, not a negotiation, and expects four tripartite meetings on September 14, 18, 28 and 30 to settle on a workable number. The wage has been creeping up in small steps ($200 in 2023, $204 in 2024, $206 in 2025, $210 for 2026), but unions (to say nothing of the workers themselves) say the increases haven't kept pace with the cost of living. Employers have already tried to warn unions against "excessively high" figures, and Sour says the 19% US export tariff (down from 49% earlier), is a reason to weigh competitiveness alongside inflation.

Read more: CamboJA News

Thai Helicopter Strays Into Battambang Airspace

A Royal Thai Air Force helicopter flew about 400 metres into Battambang province near the Daung International Border Checkpoint last week, in a move that resulted in a protest from Phnom Penh. Border fortifications, razor wire, shipping containers, permanent structures, and troop movements, have kept almost 20,000 Cambodian civilians in "waiting villages" instead of the homes they were told they could get back to under the December 27 truce, but eight-plus months on there’s been little progress for them.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (grievances timeline), Phnom Penh Post (senator rebuttal), Phnom Penh Post (attaché briefing), Phnom Penh Post (UNCLOS conciliation), Khmer Times (damage assessment)

Cambodia and US Revive Angkor Sentinel Drills

Cambodia's army confirmed Friday that "Exercise Angkor Sentinel 2027" will be run again in February. It will be the first joint drill with US forces since Phnom Penh froze the program in 2017. The announcement comes after Hun Manet's August 14 meeting with Elbridge Colby, the third-ranking official at the Department of Defense, and a separate sitdown between US Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Steve Koehler and armed forces chief Gen. Vong Pisen, who floated reviving a suspended bilateral maritime exercise too. Washington's underlying worry hasn't changed - China bankrolled an upgrade to the Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, and the US still suspects Beijing has been given secret access privileges there, but it’s a story that officials in Phnom Penh keep saying is fiction.

Read more: Ca News Yahoo

Hun Manet Tours Cleared Scam Compounds

Hun Manet strolled through an emptied Dara Sakor compound in Koh Kong, taking a look at some of the sites which are reportedly under “round-the-clock” surveillance. The visit was a feather in the cap of a 14-month campaign that resulted in the closure of 86 compounds, the freezing of more than $300 million, and the appearance of nearly 4,000 defendants from 29 countries in front of the courts. Fifteen officials are facing charges including a former Foreign Ministry director-general, a deputy prosecutor, and a deputy Phnom Penh police chief. The operators have not retired, however. Networks have moved on to Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (repatriation count), SCMP (regional loss estimates), Asian News Network (locations inspected), Khmer Times (CCOS follow-up), Asian News Network (device seizure tally)

Ex-FM Official Sold 6,000 Visas to Traffickers

A royal decree has acted as shepherd’s crook for Tho Samnang as Foreign Ministry adviser after he confessed to a visa-theft scheme that likely netted millions on the black market. The former director-general of the ministry's Legal, Consular and Border Affairs Department admitted stealing 10,000 C-class visas, which are paper stickers given to Cambodia's NGO workers, and selling 6,000 of them to human traffickers. Tho says he destroyed the other 4,000, but without any proof, authorities are still looking for them. The visas don’t have any digital record and will pass through Immigration with no vetting, gaps the ministry now says it will close.

Read more: Khmer Times ($3M estimate), UCA News (growth forecast cut)

Logging Roads Breach Dam Zone in the Cardamoms

Satellite images show logging roads as far as 3 kilometers past the authorized 2,898-hectare reservoir zone at the Stung Russei Chrum Kandal dam, which is inside Phnom Kravanh National Park. That’s one of the largest protected rainforests and is home to Asian elephants in addition to the critically endangered Sunda pangolin. A sawmill is outside the permitted boundary, and it is apparently fed by a network of small roads that match no publicly available construction plans. Residents of the O'Soam commune say checkpoints staffed by men in RCAF uniforms (the developer says they’re for “forest protection”), now also block waterways that they used to use for fishing.

Read more: Mongabay

Jakarta's Scam-Victim Fund Runs Dry in Phnom Penh

At least 475 Indonesian nationals are sleeping rough in a warehouse at the old Pochentong Airport, as they wait for passports, or plane tickets (or both), after getting out of scam compounds during the crackdown. Many entered Cambodia illegally to work in the centers, overstayed their visas once they expired, and now have no money or documents that would allow them leave. The Indonesian embassy had been covering food and emergency travel papers, but stopped all that on August 30, saying it had run out of money.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post

Seven Years for a CLV-DTA Protest

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has sentenced Thy Thorn, Mean Chanthon and Soueng Kunthea to seven years each. the decision closes out nearly all convictions from the 100-plus arrests that came along with the 2024 protests against the CLV-DTA pact, a deal that the government has since withdrawn from. All three of the recently sentenced had already spent more than two years in pretrial detention; Chanthon and Kunthea were deported from Thailand in November 2024 before being charged. Defense lawyer Son Chum Choun said that the social media posts were "constructive criticism," not treason, and plans to appeal.

Read more: CamboJA News

LOLC Prices KH’s First CGCC-Guaranteed Bond

LOLC (Cambodia) closed a KHR 80 billion ($20 million) bond on September 6. It’s notable because it is the first Cambodian corporate issue that comes with a guarantee from the Credit Guarantee Corporation of Cambodia. The offering was oversubscribed, major local financial institutions wanted to get in on the strength of CGCC's khAAA rating instead of LOLC's. Yuanta Securities (Cambodia) was lead manager in running the deal, the bond will list on the Cambodia Securities Exchange. CGCC was accredited as the market's bond guarantor in January 2024, but this is the first issue priced under that agreement. It will be lost on few readers that it took more than two and a half years.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

CSX Rallies 18% Through August

The CSX Index was up 18% in August to close at 541.02, tipping 560.09 on August 26, its highest reading since March 2022. The lift brought year-to-date gains to nearly 28%. Average daily trading value roughly quadrupled to about $800,000, compared to July’s $230,000 turnover. New account openings numbered 2,006, more than double January's 949, and active traders were reported 7,901, up 28% from July. The exchange is crediting institutional buyers for the liquidity boost.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Gov’t Protests Thai Trench-Digging at Border

The Foreign Ministry filed a protest after Thai heavy machinery was sent to dig trenches in the Chouk Krous area. The work is part of what Phnom Penh says is a series of border violations. The complaint comes after Thai PM Anutin Charnvirakul visited the Chong An Ma area (Cambodians call it An Seh), in Preah Vihear province, territory Phnom Penh says Thai troops have occupied since 2025. Hun Manet said the situation remains "fragile," as Joint Boundary Commission survey work promised under December's ceasefire remains stalled while barbed wire, shipping containers and Thai land allocations for civilians are still in the disputed territory.

Read more: Cambodianess (boundary maps), Khmer Times (machinery protest), Cambodianess (Anutin visit), CamboJA News (Hun Sen)

Gov’t: Scam Compounds Shut, Trackers: No

Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith told nearly 50 foreign diplomats that Cambodia's 13-month enforcement campaign had cleared every large-scale scam compound in the country. The government says it has raided 624 of 793 identified sites, detained nearly 30,000 suspects (including 15 senior government and law-enforcement officials), and deported 58,266 foreign nationals. Independent anti-trafficking consultant Mark Taylor said the government's confidence was "severely misplaced." Blue Dragon Children's Foundation founder Michael Brosowski was gentler, saying calls from trafficked people have fallen sharply, though they haven’t stopped. The government's statement did admit that criminal networks have moved into guesthouses, condominiums, rental houses, vehicles and coffee shops, and that 855 more suspects remain at large.

Read more: Straits Times (enforcement claims), Phnom Penh Post (cybersecurity law), Cambodianess (rescues), Tdtnews (earlier crackdown)

MSC Sees Growth Sinking to 2.7% in 2026

Mekong Strategic Capital expects 2026 growth to come in at 2.7%, the weakest print outside the pandemic in 17 years and well below the government's 4.1% expectation. The IMF, World Bank, ADB and AMRO are all higher, at about 3% to 4.2%. The gap comes almost entirely from services, which MSC thinks will shrink as accommodation and food take the pain from a previously expected quarter-plus drop in international arrival numbers. Finance and real estate are also softening with rising loan losses and property oversupply. Industry tells a different story, finding growth of a little more than 7%, almost up to Vietnam’s level, as garments and other manufacturing keep moving. MSC expects growth to recover to 6% in 2027 if (big IF) tourism, finance and real estate come back.

Read more: Cambodia Investment Review

Casino Shutdowns Cut Gaming Revenue by a Third

Gaming duties collected by the Finance Ministry were down to $29 million in the first half of 2026, reduced from $39 million a year earlier, after nearly 100 casino licenses were cancelled after last year's sweep against scam-connected operators. NagaWorld, which still has the Phnom Penh monopoly, saw its duty payments drop 18%. The ministry blamed some of the damage on the closed Thai border, which has also hurt tourism, agricultural exports and remittances.

Read more: CamboJA News

Zero Tax on Top of 10% US Rate Sought

Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol is pushing Washington for Most-Favored-Nation status with zero added duty, trying to build on the momentum of a successful 10% Section 301 rate (2.5% less than what Vietnam and Thailand pay). The stakes are more than $7 billion in exports sent to the US (still Cambodia’s biggest market) in the first half of 2026. A separate USTR investigation into structural excess manufacturing capacity, focused on 16 economies including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, is expected to be finished soon and could result in further duties. US Representatives Jimmy Panetta, Jim Baird, Julie Johnson and Kristen McDonald Rivet recently met with Hun Manet at the Peace Palace, where the prime minister talked textiles, ag/ agro-processing.

Read more: Khmer Times (tariff push), Khmer Times (US delegation)

Ex-FM Chief Had 375 Accounts at 7 Banks

The Anti-Corruption Unit says Tho Samnang, the former director-general reassigned to an adviser post after an April royal decree, had 375 bank accounts in seven banks. That’s connected to the nearly $3 million traced to him and two colleagues from the sale of more than 12,000 official C and CEX visa forms to online scam operators. The ACU wants the courts to freeze/ seize the assets for the state and says it is still looking for any more money that may still be hidden.

Read more: Khmer Times

Microfinance Borrowers Refuse IFC Offer

Sixteen indigenous microfinance borrowers, including the widow of a complainant who died during the process, rejected the IFC's informal settlement offer, saying they feared for their safety and didn’t trust the mechanism. The refusal comes after the World Bank board rejected its watchdog's 188-page report, which found that the IFC broke its own rules and caused system-wide harm in the microfinance sector, including lost livelihoods, food insecurity, family breakups and intimidation. Yikes. Licadho and Equitable Cambodia, which filed the original complaint in 2022 on behalf of the borrowers, have stepped back, giving the IFC contact details for two other complainants. The World Bank says the IFC is considering its options for what to do next even as it hopes the sixteen will reconsider.

Read more: CamboJA News

Thai Boycott Boosts Local SME Demand

Demand for locally made goods has gone up by about a third in the past year as shoppers turn away from Thai brands, according to the Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia. SMEs, formal and informal combined, generated almost three-fifths of GDP in 2025, but the Ministry of Industry's most recent numbers put almost all small businesses outside the formal system. A digital registration platform launched in late 2024 was intended to close that gap, but hasn’t yet been able to do so. The PM has told officials to expand the CamDX data-sharing platform to try and reduce the paperwork and bring more businesses into the fold.

Read more: CamboJA News

PM Rules Out Vietnam-Style Ministry Mergers

Hun Manet told the country's civil servants that the nation’s ministries are staying put. He put aside comparisons to Vietnam's ministerial mergers and provincial consolidations. He said that his approach would be to work towards "strengthening, not expanding." He conceded that consolidation might be able to cut overlap and reduce administrative costs, but argued that merging agencies risks creating institutions that are hard to manage without trimming payrolls or spending. He apparently hoped nobody else would notice the irony of his position.

Read more: CamboJA News

NGOs Get 80% of Budget from Foreign Donors

More than nine in ten social-delivery groups rely on foreign donors who, on average, cover about four-fifths of their budgets. That’s double the Asian norm, according to the Center for Asian Philanthropy and Society's 2026 Doing Good Index. Most surveyed groups said domestic funding was insufficient as US aid cuts and a global pullback squeeze the sector.

Read more: CamboJA News

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